Contesting urban monuments: future directions for the controversial monumental landscapes of civic grandeur

Decision makers are being increasingly called on to confront controversial urban histories to create more inclusive, diverse monumental landscapes. Although many prominent and officially ‘authorised’ public monuments radiate troublesome heritage, the monumental landscape is also richly complex, and demands an evaluation of the shifting relationship between design intention and public reception, as social, political and local contexts alter the heritage-making process. Based on documentary research, secondary analysis of qualitative interviews and an evaluation of media discourse associated with two examples of monumentality in Birmingham, UK, this paper argues that examining these forces is a necessary and urgent step for actors involved in creating sustainable urban environments. This paper concludes by considering how urban actors might effectively deal with those competing historical and political narratives and generate more contextualised and community-oriented responses to the shaping of the heritage landscape during times of economic uncertainty.